Nut Tree opened in 1921 as a small roadside
fruit stand that grew into a notable restaurant, gift shop and toy store along
with the Nut Tree Railroad. The restaurant closed in 1996 and in 2015 the
towering sign along Interstate 80 that for decades marked the original Nut Tree
came down.

Nordstrom Rack to open at Nut
Tree

Nearly
a year after Sport Chalet closed its doors at the Nut Tree, Nordstrom is making
plans to move in.The Seattle-based luxury
department store chain announced Thursday it will open a 27,000-square-foot
Nordstrom Rack store at 1621 East Monte Vista Ave. this fall.The off-price retail store of
Nordstrom Inc. will occupy part of the space vacated by the 42,000-square-foot Sport
Chalet last year.Sport Chalet was one of the
original anchors in the Nut Tree Village when it opened in 2006, along with
Best Buy, Old Navy and Borders.The sporting goods store’s parent company
Vestis Retail Group of Connecticut filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April and
proceeded to close all its stores.The suite has now been split in
two and a second retailer for the remaining space is still being sought.“We’re always excited to get our
retail spaces occupied,” said Don Burrus, the city’s economic development
manager.The city will often reach out to
retailers and other businesses, and refer them to property managers when they
inquire about opening a store in Vacaville, Burrus said.“In this case, Julie’s been working on
this project a lot on her own,” he said.Julie Davis, general manager of
Dunhill Partners, the firm that manages the Nut Tree, likewise expressed
enthusiasm.“Nordstrom Rack fits perfectly
with the retail vision that Dunhill Partners is committed to offering the
community, and their presence will tremendously enhance the quality tenant mix
that makes the Nut Tree the ‘Legendary Road Stop’ of Northern California,”
Davis said.The store sells apparel,
accessories and shoes at a savings of 30 to 70 percent off regular prices,
according to the company. Merchandise comes from Nordstrom stores, its website
and specially purchased items from the brands available at Nordstrom.“We’re excited to bring our customers in
Vacaville a Nordstrom Rack store closer to home with our new location at the
Nut Tree,” Karen McKibbin, president of Nordstrom Rack, said in a press
release. “Customers in the area who previously had to commute to other locations
can expect the same great brands at great prices — with less time in the car.”There are 12 Nordstrom Rack
stores in Northern California, including Sacramento, Pleasant Hill, Novato and
Emeryville.

FAIRFIELD — Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez,
who worried last year that federal funds for Moving Solano Forward might just
produce an $800,000 website, says he’s hopeful the effort will assist cities
and the region in attracting business.

The project has provided cities in Solano
County with good information about potential business locations, Sanchez said,
and marketing follow-up will be crucial for whether Moving Solano Forward
succeeds.

“It remains to be seen,” Sanchez said
Wednesday.

He said the fate should be apparent in six to
18 months.

A $453,460 grant from the federal Office of
Economic Adjustment funded a second phase of the Solano project and follows the
first part that received $370,000 in federal money and paid consultant Economic
Planning Systems Inc. for an economic diversity report.

Fairfield City Council members meeting Tuesday
indicated they support increasing the municipality’s yearly payment to Moving
Solano Forward from $10,000 to $45,000.

Councilwoman Catherine Moy said Wednesday that
Sanchez has been skeptical about the marketing program “and I believe
rightfully so.”

Moy said she won’t vote for the additional
funds for Moving Solano Forward when the council takes up the payment.

“I need to see how the money,” she said, “in a
real way is bringing business to Fairfield and not just Solano County.

“I don’t see any cause and effect,” Moy said.
“I want to see hard facts.”

Sandy Person, chief executive officer of
the Solano Economic Development Corporation, had told the council that more
than 4,300 new jobs were added last year in Solano County.

Person said Thursday that economic development
involves a lot of moving parts and that the “Solano Means Business” marketing
by Moving Solano Forward includes such specifics as sites for businesses to
locate.

“It’s not buckshot,” Person said.

“It’s about all of us leveraging our assets
together,” she said. “We have to build that regional brand.”

Companies from outside of Northern California
think of regions where they may locate, rather than seeing cities or counties,
Person said.

While different demographics make up Solano
County and each community is unique, she said, success in one city is success
for the region.

“What’s good for Vallejo is good for
Fairfield,” she said.

Person said Suisun City and Vacaville
will be also be asked for contributions to Moving Solano Forward. Funding
from cities is based on population.

“Solano Means Business” was introduced March
10 at a meeting of the Solano Economic Development Corporation in Fairfield.

Mario Giuliani, the economic development
director for Benicia, said a vehicle is in place to grow the local economy.

FAIRFIELD — Increasing the city’s yearly
$10,000 payment to $45,000 for the Moving Solano Forward campaign to boost
economic development won Fairfield City Council support Tuesday.

“We want to move forward,” Mayor Harry Price
said.

The direction to staff followed a report from
Robert Burris, economic development and workforce housing division manager for
the city, about Moving Solano Forward.

“Think of economic development as a team
sport,” Burris said.

Cities and Solano County can’t do it all on
their own, he said, noting work by the Solano Economic Development
Corporation. He cited plans by Blue Apron, a company that sends customers
foods to prepare at home, to open a fulfillment center on Cordelia Road and
bring what the city staff said will involve about 1,000 jobs in Fairfield.

“We all group together to make things happen,”
Burris said.

Sandy Person, chief executive officer of
the Solano Economic Development Corporation, told the City Council about the
“Solano Means Business” strategy introduced at the March 10 meeting of the
organization at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield.

“It’s bringing our ‘A game’ to a world
platform,” Person said.

More than 4,300 new jobs came to Solano County
last year, she said.

Person said that, “economic development
is exceptionally complicated” and that the Solano EDC works with what she
called “Fairfield’s premier staff.”

“We all have a hand in that,” she said of new
jobs in the region.

A Fairfield city staff report said money is
not in the budget for the increased city payment but the extra $35,000 could be
added to the upcoming budget.

“For this strategy to be successful, new
investment is required,” the report said.

“It is expected that the future new investment
and job creation resulting from greater economic development and marketing
activities will create an economic impact ‘ripple effect’ of returns to the
city that will by far exceed this level of investment,” the report said.

Funding from cities is based on population.

A $453,460 grant from the federal Office of
Economic Adjustment paid for a second phase of the Solano project and follows
the first part that received $370,000 in federal money and paid consultant
Economic Planning Systems Inc. for an economic diversity report.

Person said the effort began about five years
ago and involves the region relying less economically on Travis Air Force Base.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Fairfield payment
to Moving Solano Forward may climb to $45,000

FAIRFIELD — A proposal for the city to pay
$45,000 a year to the Moving Solano Forward campaign to boost economic
development – up from $10,000 – goes before Fairfield City Council members
Tuesday.

“For this strategy to be successful, new
investment is required,” a city staff report said.

“It is expected that the future new investment
and job creation resulting from greater economic development and marketing
activities will create an economic impact ‘ripple effect’ of returns to the
city that will by far exceed this level of investment,” the report added.

Funding from cities is based on population.

Money is not in the budget for
the increase, but the city staff would like to add the extra
$35,000 in the upcoming budget, the staff report said.

The “Solano Means Business” strategy for the
region was introduced at the March 10 meeting of the Solano Economic
Development Corp. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield.

Mario Giuliani, economic development director
for Benicia, called the strategy a vehicle to grow the local economy.

“Let’s start our engines,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani said the “Solano Means Business”
effort outlines an economic development strategy for the county. A marketing
campaign and a list of industrial sites is part of the strategy.

“Solano Means Business” aims to create new
jobs and attract investment to boost the $19.6 billion economy in the county.

Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez said a year ago
that $823,460 in federal money for the Moving Solano Forward project to
diversify the county’s economic base provides contracts for consultants, but
may not benefit taxpayers.

A $453,460 grant from the federal Office of
Economic Adjustment paid for a second phase of the Solano project and follows
the first part that received $370,000 in federal money and paid consultant
Economic Planning Systems Inc. for an economic diversity report.

“I sure hope that after this second phase,”
Sanchez had said, “it just doesn’t end up to be an $800,000 website.”

Sanchez said state and federal grants offered
cities typically won’t pay to buy land or buildings and as a result reports
proliferate.

He could not be reached for comment Monday
about the “Solano Means Business” campaign.

Sandy Person, chief executive officer of
the Solano Economic Development Corp., said in 2016 that the new phase of
Moving Solano Forward puts into place recommendations from the first part of
the project to further diversify the county’s economy.

Person said the federally funded project is a
phenomenal opportunity to boost economic development and help ease the burden
of having 25 percent of county residents on some form of public
assistance. That number has been reported as high as 30 percent.

The project includes a corridor strategy that
recognizes the importance of Interstate 80, she had said.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Solano cities work
together to market area

While each city in Solano County is
independently competitive when it comes to marketing its assets for business
development, each city must also work collaboratively and with Solano Economic
Development Corporation (Solano EDC) and private companies to leverage a broad
campaign to market Solano County to a target audience.

Moving Solano Forward, Phase II the visionary
marketing campaign led by Solano EDC’s project team was unveiled last week and
outlines how the economic strength of the collective seven cites is powerful
when harnessed and targeted to maximize economic outcomes.

Why all of a sudden is there so much focus on
Solano County cities banding together to get aggressive on economic development
activities? It has always been important for a coordinated approach to market
Solano County on a regional, statewide and national basis for new business
opportunities.

However, the recent economic downtown brought
to light a lot of economic related red flags for all the cities and the county
that needed attention. There is intense competition between communities and states
for new economic development projects in today’s economy, and the struggle to
attract and retain business is further intensified by the use of many
variations of economic incentives to the potential businesses. Surrounding
counties and regions are getting very aggressive in looking to recruit
businesses within our county, and unless we have a strong and coordinated
business attraction campaign focused on marketing Solano County and its cities,
new business opportunities will bypass or depart from Solano County.

The US Department of Defense, Office of
Economic Adjustment provided funding for the county to do an economic
opportunity analysis to study the challenges facing Solano County. Utilizing
the services of Solano EDC and its project team, the analysis from the initial
study (Phase I) morphed into Moving Solano Forward Phase II to address the
initial issues identified, and develop tools and strategies to enhance a
collaborative approach.

At the basic economic development level,
Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Suisun, Vacaville and Vallejo all focus on elements
to improve the quality of life and economic well-being for the respective
communities with programs to retain jobs and support and grow the tax base.
Moving Solano Forward, Phase II provides a strategic plan to showcase the
attributes of each city and identifies facility types (i.e., office services,
light manufacturing, heavy manufacturing, distribution), and cluster targets
(i.e., advanced materials, logistics, biotech/biomedical, food processing, etc.)
and sites for suitable investment.

In Fairfield for example, Green Valley
Corporate Park, Busch Corporate Center, Solano Business Park, and the future
Canon Station industrial area all contain land that align with the objectives
of Moving Solano Forward, Phase II –namely strengthening investment
opportunities and the local economy. All the sites are well positioned to
support regionally significant job-creating investment. We have noted before in
this column that Fairfield has water capacity to support continued growth,
including investments by large water users such as food and beverage
operations. Land resources well suited for manufacturing, distribution and
laboratory operations are ready for development.

Moving Solano Forward, II is an action oriented
mission-focused forward-thinking effort with four recommended initiatives to
grow the Solano County economy and jobs and guide stakeholder activities and
collaboration:

·Marketing & business attraction: Each city has their own
unique business attraction messaging while leveraging a broader campaign
through consistent and frequent marketing to the target audience. Increasing
lead generation is the major goal of the business attraction initiative.
Prospecting efforts for business leads will target specific identified clusters
in predetermined geographic markets. The more leads that can be generated, the
greater the chance of landing new jobs and investment, and working in a
cooperative fashion with an organization like the Solano EDC creates a greater
marketing “reach” for the county and cities within to do just that.

·Business retention & expansion: The Solano EDC will
coordinate existing business retention and expansion efforts performed by
respective cities through the Economic Development Task Force, host program
software and the Solano Business First! Key message and program. Showing some
love to existing businesses can help keep them happy and identify key issues at
an early stage that may need a regional approach to resolve.

·Competitiveness: Solano EDC will work with each city and the
County to evaluate financing options for infrastructure, and market programs
that help make Solano unique. There are various assets that help differentiate
Solano County from other areas. For example, our natural resources and lower
costs for businesses to build, maintain and operate compared to other Bay Area
and out-of-state locations gives Solano a competitive advantage.

·Resource hub: A computer-generated one-stop clearinghouse
accessible to businesses for accessing data, research, industry reports,
economic indicators and links to local resources and assistance will be
maintained by Solano EDC. When site selectors are looking for information, it’s
helpful to have one catch-all source for Solano County.

To help foster collaboration with cities,
Solano EDC will present each city with their plan for enhanced services and
performance measures, and with that, a proposed budget that is comparable to
other economic development organizations in the United States. Team members
from each city have been meeting regularly with Solano EDC for marketing
coordination activities. Solano Moving Forward, Phase II is the chance for all
cities and the County to take necessary action to show that Solano Means
Business.

Economic Notes is an
update from Fairfield City Hall written by Brian Miller and Karl Dumas of the
Fairfield Planning and Development Department. They can be contacted at
428-7461 or email at kdumas@fairfield.ca.gov
or bkmiller@fairfield.ca.gov.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Wanted — A deafening roar of engines to signal the community’s commitment to Move Solano Forward.

Such was the sentiment early Friday at a Solano Economic Development Corporation (EDC) gathering focused on growing the county’s economy.

Chairwoman Louise Walker spoke of the need for everyone to be on the same page, to get involved, to proactively and aggressively tell the county’s story.

“I truly believe that this is our time,” she said.

For a while now, the Solano EDC has been bringing experts together to come up with a game plan to help the economy progress.

Teams have since drafted a roadmap outlining next steps.

That includes a mission-focused effort involving public and private engagement to attract new business while retaining existing ones.

A one-year tactical and five-year strategic plan is in the works and stakeholder meetings and outreach will be conducted through May. Next up will be a launch of the “Solano Business First” existing program, then a possible soft launch of the “Solano Means Business” campaign.

Economist Robert Eyler, with Economic Forensics & Analytics, said 207 sites totaling 3,600 acres have been identified for potential expansion. The majority are small but many are shovel-ready.

Audrey Taylor, president of Chabin Concepts Inc., emphasized that Solano needs to be bold moving forward to compete with surrounding counties. They’re competitive and extremely aggressive in promoting themselves, she added, so Solano must be the same.

Mario Giuliani, meanwhile, pushed for unilateral support.

“When we promote Solano as a county we promote us all,” said the economic development manager and acting deputy city manager for the city of Benicia.

He remembered an instance when a Mare Island business had some issues and spoke with him about possibly moving cities. He researched the matter and, despite wanting the business in his city, advised a stay at Mare Island. He explained that was better for the business and Solano as a whole.

The Moving Solano Forward initiative is about promotion and the subsequent acknowledgment can only benefit the county, said Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan.

“It’s about putting Solano County on the map for people who aren’t in this room and who don’t know what we’re all about,” she explained.

She called for collaboration, for commitment.

“This is the now, this is the time,” she said. “Let’s get Solano moving.”

FAIRFIELD — A vehicle is in place to grow the local economy, people at the Solano Economic Development Corp. meeting heard Friday.

“Let’s start our engines,” urged Mario Giuliani.

Giuliani, the economic development director for Benicia, said the “Solano Means Business” effort outlines an economic development strategy for the county.

He held a shelf to show where the report on economic strategy for the county won’t go.

“Governments are great at making studies,” added Giuliani. “We make studies of studies.”

FAIRFIELD — A vehicle is in place to grow the local economy, people at the Solano Economic Development Corp. meeting heard Friday.

“Let’s start our engines,” urged Mario Giuliani.

Giuliani, the economic development director for Benicia, said the “Solano Means Business” effort outlines an economic development strategy for the county.

He held a shelf to show where the report on economic strategy for the county won’t go.

“Governments are great at making studies,” added Giuliani. “We make studies of studies.”

But the report by the second phase of Moving Solano Forward, including a marketing campaign and a list of industrial sites, he said, and communities should move forward with the strategy.

“When we promote Solano as a county, we promote us all,” Guiliani said to applause.

Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan supported a unified effort, noting that Benicia and Vallejo are sometimes seen as more Bay Area, while Fairfield and Vacaville are aligned with Sacramento.

Solano Means Business aims to create new jobs and attract investment to boost the $19.6 billion economy in the county.

Louise Walker, chairwoman of the board for the Solano EDC and chief executive officer of First Northern Bank, said the county is positioned to advance.

“This is our time,” Walker said.

Fairfield Mayor Harry Price said after the meeting, held at the Hilton Garden Inn, that the county now has a wonderful road map that will allow communities to work together on economic development. Vacaville Mayor Len Augustine also welcomed the strategy and said such an effort has long been needed.

Steve Huddleston, vice president of Public Affairs for NorthBay HealthCare, had said in a statement promoting the meeting, “The private sector and local government come together — at long last — with a shared vision to attract new employers, retain who we have, create a workforce of the future. For health care, it’s essential to let everyone know advanced medicine is delivered here.”

Sandy Person, president of the economic development corporation thanked people – including former Fairfield City Manager Sean Quinn – for their work on the strategy.